Hoist with her own petard

[Tinkerbell]

"Your uncle. And we have to be truly grateful to him for had he not arranged that I should come here, I should be cutting roses or performing some such duty for some other tyrant possibly miles from here—so I shouldn't be chatting with you, nor have seen Evan and er . . ."
"It's a shame," said Hadrian hotly. "And you of all people. You were always such a bully."
"I know. It's just retribution. The bully now bullied. Hoist with her own petard. Still, it's pleasant to know that some members of the household don't regard me as a pariah now that I have to perform the humiliating task of earning a living."

Hoist with her own petard: what does it mean?

 

[bhaisahab]

"Your uncle. And we have to be truly grateful to him for had he not arranged that I should come here, I should be cutting roses or performing some such duty for some other tyrant possibly miles from here—so I shouldn't be chatting with you, nor have seen Evan and er . . ."
"It's a shame," said Hadrian hotly. "And you of all people. You were always such a bully."
"I know. It's just retribution. The bully now bullied. Hoist with her own petard. Still, it's pleasant to know that some members of the household don't regard me as a pariah now that I have to perform the humiliating task of earning a living."

Hoist with her own petard: what does it mean?

Have a look at this link: Petard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Tinkerbell]

Thank you, bhaisahab :-D

 

[BobK]

...And make sure you scroll down to Petard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for the archaic - but now idiomatic - use of 'hoist'. There are lots of other idioms to do with explosions of one kind and another: 'flash in the pan', 'keep your powder dry', 'spike someone's guns', lots of naval ones -' shot across the bows', 'broadside', 'loose cannon'... Any more?

Etymological trivia: 'Petard' is related to 'pestle' ( http://www2.danelawtraders.com/cart/images/LMORS.JPG ), and to the French pêter )

b

 

[Tinkerbell]

Thank you, Bob :-D